Comer Demands DOJ Release Classified Documents Biden Was Improperly Hoarding, Says They Could Contain Information About Family’s ‘Influence-Peddling Scheme’

Comer is also demanding that Attorney General Garland release the transcript of President Biden’s interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Representative James Comer. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, is demanding that Attorney General Garland hand over classified documents President Biden was improperly storing at his home and private office, as well as the release of the transcript of the president’s October interviews about the documents with Special Counsel Robert Hur.

“To date, the Department of Justice has rebuffed the Oversight Committee’s requests for information under the justification of ‘protect[ing] the integrity of Special Counsel Hur’s ongoing investigation,’” Mr. Comer writes in his letter to the attorney general, which was shared with the Sun. “Mr. Hur’s investigation — which included an interview with President Biden — has now concluded. For our investigatory purposes, the Committees require certain records relating to Mr. Hur’s investigation and report.”

“The Oversight Committee has sought information regarding President Biden’s mishandling of classified information in relation to its ongoing investigation into his participation in his family’s international business dealings in, among other places, China and Ukraine,” Mr. Comer continues. 

Mr. Comer and his fellow House Republicans want to know if the hoarded documents contain hard evidence that Mr. Biden was personally profiting from, or orchestrating, what they call his family’s “influence peddling scheme,” in which enterprising Bidens such as the president’s son, Hunter, and his younger brother, James, traded off the president’s name to make money from foreign entities for “consulting.”

The chairman points out that the president may have lied about sharing classified information with those who did not have security clearances. In his report, Mr. Hur states that the president’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, who did not have a security clearance, was privy to documents that Mr. Biden had at his home related to wars in the Middle East. During his press conference on Thursday night, Mr. Biden said that Mr. Hur’s assertion was not true. 

“There is concern that President Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings,” Mr. Comer writes. “Further, we seek to understand whether the White House or President Biden’s personal attorneys placed any limitations or scoping restrictions during the interview that would have precluded a line of inquiry regarding evidence (emails, text messages, or witness statements) directly linking the President to troublesome foreign payments.”

Two of the documents Mr. Biden kept in his possession relate to a December 2015 phone call Mr. Biden had with the then-Ukrainian prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Hunter Biden was serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, at the time of the phone call. 

Mr. Comer asks that Mr. Garland turn over those documents and all transcripts and recordings of interviews with Messrs. Biden and Zwonitzer by February 19. 

In October, Mr. Comer demanded that Mr. Garland turn over the classified documents that were discovered at Mr. Biden’s home and offices. The chairman said at the time that the documents could prove that the president was using information from his time as vice president to enrich members of his family. 

“Evidence suggests President Biden may have used certain members of his family — particularly his son, Hunter Biden — to accumulate millions of dollars from foreign individuals and entities for the benefit of his family and himself,” Mr. Comer said in a statement on October 16. 

“The Biden family received millions of dollars from foreign sources while President Biden served in public office and afterwards,” Mr. Comer wrote to Mr. Hur at the time. “If any of the classified documents mishandled by President Biden involved countries or individuals that had financial dealings with Biden family members or their related companies, the Committee needs access to that information to evaluate whether our national security has been compromised.”


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